4. The Fights

An iron dragon caught her attention. It just clouted a smaller steel dragon that was too young to realize its own, potentially greater strength. The adolescent iron brushed past the steel, knocking it aside and heading toward Quik, oblivious to her presence. She made sure of her grasp on her abyssal whip, her weapon of choice. It was a good one, well broken in and very much able to deliver the blows she had in store.

She could feel her adrenalin flood as the dragon came closer. Without any warning her whip lashed out, powered by her enhanced strength and controlled by her practiced accuracy. The blow caught the iron dragon by surprise and sent it reeling. It was clearly hurt, but nowhere close to being dead. She raised her shield as she was bathed in a blast of dragon fire, the shield doing its job of absorbing most of the fire, and the anti fire potion protecting her from the heat. The dragon raised its fore paws to swipe, and Quik deflected the attack with a blow of her own, neatly countering the dragons blow.

The dragon reared up to paw at her with a frontal assault. Quik’s next blow did little damage but the dragon was wary. Dragons were wily in that they learned to counter a blow and even get the drop if a warrior constantly used the same kind of attack. Early on, Quik had learned to vary her technique by changing her style after she scored a hit. This was an inexperienced dragon though. It was relying too much on its youthful strength. She watched as the dragon prepared to rear again, then flicked the whip in another hard hit. This time the dragon stepped back, realizing that this was not a weak, defenseless villager. She flicked once more and watched the dragon as it noted the pattern. Her style changed as the dragon attacked with a lunge, its massive jaws gaping. Her lash clearly hurt the dragon again, stopping the attack.

Now the dragon was desperate, its breath coming in heavy gasps, and its mighty ribs rising and falling. Quik was not overly anxious though. A dragon this close to death was not to be taken for granted. The dragon lunged again, sweeping its wings in to attack from the sides. Again, the blow was deflected and Quik lashed out another deadly one of her own, neatly catching the dragon in the throat, killing it. The great beast reared up with a stifled, choking roar and toppled to the floor of the cavern, its throes subsiding in death, the silence once again taking over. She counted her blessings, all 80 of them. She had not needed her protection prayer this time. It wasn’t too often she killed an iron dragon without taking any hits. That meant she still had all her prayer and sharks for the other three dragons.

Quik did not move for a few minutes. Dragons could see well enough in daylight, and had a kind of ultraviolet sight that worked outside too. But they were not hunting and didn’t rely on that sixth sense they had outside. Inside the lair, the best defense was keeping still, the human heat covered up by the dragon heat. She slowly turned and looked over the other dragons. Over by the young steel, was another iron dragon, larger than the one that had just been slain. With careful steps she eased toward it at an angle, turning and facing it as she went.

Luck was not with her though as the dragon caught sight of her somehow and attacked, its roar filling the cavern and momentarily getting the attention of the other dragons. But this was home for them and they quickly became disinterested, all but the one that roared.

Quik deflected twice, not doing much damage. The dragon was almost out of control, rearing and swiping with claws as if it didn’t know any other way to fight. A lash caught it a good hard blow, then another. This got the dragons attention and it stopped its frontal assault.

With head lowered and wings flared, it eyed Quik as she eyed it back. She was looking at more than its eyes though. She gauged the way its body was ‘gathering’ for something, the muscles beneath the hide working and changing as it moved. She didn’t let the dragon have a chance though and lashed again, getting in a hit to make the creature think again. She deflected two blows, and the dragon ‘winged’ her with a blow from the side, knocking her almost head over heels. It was her turn to step back. Quik invoked protection and ate a shark, noting the healing it provided, and feeling her strength return. She was not quite to full health but it was enough to continue. That was a hard hit.

She began to circle to her right to match the dragon, its own wariness apparent. She noticed the tail tip moving in little flicks back and forth. This was not a practiced veteran fighter else the tail would have been still and cocked to a side opposite her, ready for a swipe that could take down midsized trees. Quik didn’t ignore any part of the dragon though. She just kept an eye on its posture and watched for the opening it would provide.

There it was. The dragon glance to its right at something, and her whip lashed, and a second time, delivering devastating blows that all but finished this fight. Her whip flicked again, and then lashed with a final cut, killing the mighty beast. Two dragons down, two to go.

As before, Quik waited a few minutes before moving, letting the area around her become “ok” with the dragons heat sense again. Then she slowly moved to the edge of the cavern, watching. The steel dragon was huffing, and lowing constantly, another sign of its addiction to human blood and meat. It began pacing and was moving toward her. Its path would take it in front of her but not so close that it would attack without warning. She just kept still, breathing evenly, ready to fight if this big one wanted to. She wanted to choose the fight, but she could take it either way.

The steel suddenly stopped and turned its head in her direction. It cocked its head in an animal gesture of question. It ‘saw’ her but didn’t know what it was seeing, being a bit too far away. It cocked its head the other way, and then continued on. Quik let it go, noting its attention was on another young dragon to bully. She turned her own attention to the last iron. It was blowing and huffing at nothing in particular. The addiction had been in this one longer than the other iron dragons. There was probably more than one adventurer missing somewhere. Quik moved toward it with stealthy steps. The first blow, strong and accurate, was her preferred way to start a fight with a dragon.

She almost felt sorry for this one; its addiction was blinding it and clouding its thinking. It was doing more than huffing. It was actually coughing. She worked her way along the wall until she was a little behind it. Her lash was as she planned, powered again by enhanced strength and practiced accuracy. The dragon reeled and turned, bathing her in its fire, then slashing with its front feet. Her whip caught it again and knocked it over. In its struggle to regain its feet, its tail swung around and Quik was hit with an unexpected blow, her armor taking most of the energy but still hurting her. She invoked protection again and ate two sharks, bringing her to full health. She turned off the invocation and noted 18 sharks and most of her prayer left. Hopefully this fight wouldn’t take much more, saving the bulk of her stores for the steel.

Feeling the power of full health, Quik focused again on the iron dragon, noting its cloudy eyes. She flicked her whip, doing little damage but noting the disorientation of the beast. She lashed again, and a second time, hurting it with the second blow. She deflected this time, countering the swipe of dragon claws, and hurting it some more at the same time. She countered a second blow, a third, each time inflicting a little damage. It was better to do a lot of damage and end the fight quickly, but several small hits added up. It was also better to not be in a hurry. Patience was a virtue in this game.

Once again, the dragon lost focus, and Quik lashed out another strong blow. The dragon hardly responded, and she killed it with a lash to the neck, the beast not even rearing, just falling over. She was glad to put it out of its misery. Again she just stood, and let the echoes of the fight subside, quietness taking over from the roars and throes of battle.

Now it was time for the real battle. Quik eased over to the edge of the cavern again, and took the time to observe the steel dragon. It was a mature dragon, in its prime. That stage can last for hundreds of years in this species, with the waning years till death lasting almost as long. A reign of almost a thousand years of a man-eating dragon was not good for a human population. The stories of hoards of dragon gold were nonsense. However, the humans that did get eaten were eaten in entirety… gold and weapons being the only things usually left. They eventually dissolved, but rumors and legends get started with such things.

The human addiction affected the steel species a bit different. They still ate other animals, which kept the effects suppressed. It was probably this animal that got the other irons started on the wrong path, but that was just conjecture. The reason didn’t matter how they got that way, the result was the same. Human-eating dragons were a menace.

This dragon, being mature, had experience that would be used against her or any other warrior. This was a beast that was at the top of the pecking order and knew it. It didn’t let anything else forget it either. Also, it hadn’t gotten to the top of the pecking order by making mistakes.

Quik wasn’t without experience of her own and she was prepared to use it all, having trained regularly with other types of dragons, dagonoths, and ice trolls, practicing her attacks and defenses relentlessly. She knew that her skill would be tested and she intended to pass with flying colors.

She eased along the wall in the direction of the steel, the huge beast turning toward her as well, although she knew it didn’t see her yet. She felt the anti fire potion wear off. That was good. It would not do to run out during the upcoming fight so she took another sip. She did the same with attack, strength and defense too. Although the affects of the previous doses were still present, they too wearing off. Quick wanted to start this fight at top condition. She was also glad to have attained Piety level in prayer. The training and meditation behind her, the extra enhancement to her fighting skills could prove useful in this particular fight.

As Quik passed the young steel, hit earlier by the adolescent iron, she noted its features, clearly showing pain. It just eyed her as she eased along the cavern wall. It was probably just bruised and would heal, but it was hard to tell as it lay there. She continued on toward her last target.

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